Beating England not difficult for Kohli’s men: Ajit Wadekar

Former Indian captain Ajit Wadekar has backed India’s chances of beating England in the Test series. Wadekar is remembered as one of the most prolific leaders of the Indian team. It was under his captaincy when India beat England in the English backyard back in the 1970s. He is the only Indian captain to have beaten England in both away and home soil. Wadekar, in a telephonic conversation with Cricketnext, spoke on various prospects of the upcoming Test series.

England are scheduled to play 5 Tests against India on the tour. The first Test kicks off on November 9 at Rajkot. Ajit Wadekar is a firm believer that under Virat Kohli, India has a strong chance of beating England. He predicted his scoreline of 4-1 in the favor of India. Stressing on Kohli’s aggression, Wadekar backed the five-bowler theory supported by Virat Kohli.

“You require aggression as a captain and that is very essential these days and Virat has that in him. Virat’s decision to go with 5 bowlers is working for India. If your recognized batsmen can’t do the job then an all-rounder alone can’t rescue the team. Hence going in with 5 bowlers is helping the team,” quoted the former Indian cricketer.

He also brushed aside the comparisons of Ravichandran Ashwin with legendary spinners saying it is unfair to do so. While the likes of Erapalli Prasanna and Venkatraghavan were traditional spinners, Ashwin relies on his variations. He appreciated the kind of variations Ashwin comes up with. Wadekar further commended Ashwin’s ability to create variations with his fingers.

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“Comparing Ashwin with the great spin quartet is difficult. Prasanna and Venkat were traditional off-break bowlers. But this guy (Ashwin) has so many variations that it is difficult to read him. He bowls off-spin, bowls the doosra, I have seen him bowl leg-spinners also, the kind of variations he pulls off with his fingers is unbelievable,” said Ajit Wadekar.

“Problem with the English batsmen is that they can’t read from the fingers of a spinner like Indians and that is where Ashwin holds the edge,” he added further citing English batsmen will struggle against Ashwin. In the batting department, he has hopes from middle order batsman Cheteshwar Pujara. Amidst all modern day hitters in the team, Pujara remains to be the lonely classical stroke maker.

“Pujara has a great defence and temperament. He will be the key as he is an old-school Test batsman and India needs that solidity,” quoted Wadekar.

He concluded by saying that he highly doubts the ability of English spinners. The likes of Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid are coming on tour with very little experience. “I have my doubts about the ability of the English spinners who are coming to India. They lack experience and won’t be able to succeed. I think India is well equipped to tackle them. Beating England this time around will not be a difficult proposition for Kohli’s team,” he conceded.